


In which Kuroo is an idiot and Kenma is DONE

by Toboe1087



Series: Shared Memories [4]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Bokuto Koutarou & Kuroo Tetsurou are Bros, M/M, slight hints of Akaashi Keiji/Bokutou Koutarou
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-19
Updated: 2019-04-19
Packaged: 2020-01-16 16:52:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,533
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18525661
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Toboe1087/pseuds/Toboe1087
Summary: Kuroo always thought he didn't have a soulmate, until one day he realized that maybe his had been staring him in the face all along.





	In which Kuroo is an idiot and Kenma is DONE

**Author's Note:**

> Obviously, I own none of the rights to this series. Those belong to Haruichi Furudate, along with whatever publishers, producers, etc., are involved with the series.
> 
> Enjoy!

Kuroo sighed as Bokutou called to talk to him _again_ about an amazing memory he’d gotten from his soulmate.

This time the other boy had been eating something with karashi mustard dressing. Kuroo still wasn’t sure what was so amazing about the memory, but Bokuto was ecstatic about it. Apparently he found it adorable. 

Kuroo was happy for his friend. He _was._

It was just… hard. 

Usually people had been receiving memories from their soulmates for as long as they could remember, but he had seen nothing.

Absolutely nothing.

For a while, that was fine. His soulmate could be younger or something… after all, how could he receive memories if his soulmate hadn’t been born? But now he was eighteen. An eighteen-year age gap wasn’t likely. Possible, but not likely.

No, it was far more likely that his soulmate was older and had died young. It was rare, but it happened. It happened more often than eighteen-year age gaps between soulmates. 

And he was… coming to terms with that.

He was.

And he was trying to be supportive for his friends, now that they were all reaching the age where some would try to find their soulmate so that they could go to college together.

But… it was hard.

He had no one.

Well, no one but Kenma.

Kenma understood.

Against all odds, Kenma had no soulmate either. Well, Kuroo hoped he didn’t, and wasn’t that a cruel thing to hope for? But Kenma didn’t talk about one. It made Kuroo wonder… and sometimes, he really, really wanted to know. Usually when Kenma had just gotten out of the shower after practice, and…

Nope. Not letting his brain go there. 

But they’d been neighbors and friends for as long as Kuroo could remember, and Kenma’d never once mentioned his soulmate memories. That had to mean something, right?

Of course, Kuroo hadn’t pressed, either. He hated it when people asked him about it, and Kenma didn’t even like talking with others, so Kuroo had long ago promised himself that he wouldn’t ask Kenma about his lack of soulmate. He would just make sure that Kenma knew he could talk to him if he needed to.

And Kuroo thought he’d achieved that. They certainly talked about everything else.

He sighed.

Kuroo suddenly realized Bokuto wasn’t talking anymore.

Shit.

He’d been quiet for too long. “What happened next, Bo?”

“I’m the worst friend.”

Aw, fuck, not this again.

“No, you’re not, Bo. You’re excited. I’m excited for you. It’s great that your soulmate likes karashi mustard dressing.”

“How can you say that! I’ll never call you again. I’ll find someone else. Akaashi would listen. I’ll call him. I’m sorry!!!!”

He hung up.

Kuroo sighed and hit the redial button. 

Straight to voicemail. 

Kuroo rolled his eyes in annoyance. Fine, then. He’d leave a message. Hopefully his friend would listen to it. “Listen you demented owl, you’re an awesome friend. I’m sorry I wasn’t listening completely, that’s totally on me, not you, alright? Call me back, ok? I can’t stand it when my bro is sad.”

Kuroo hung up and tossed his phone down onto his desk. He frowned, leaning back in his chair. What should he do now? Practice wasn’t until later, and he’d finished his homework. He should study for college entrance exams, but…. He glanced at his old tv set. 

A memory suddenly washed over him. He remembered when he’d gone to the store with Kenma when they were little. He could see the game Kenma was excited for, though he thought it had been lower on the shelf at the time. He’d wanted to get the game next to it, but they’d only had enough money to get one, and Kenma had been waiting on this for months. And then the line had been so freaking long…

Maybe he should play that game? They hadn’t played it together in years, but it was good, and he was feeling nostalgic.

He knelt down to dig the system out of the drawer but stopped when his phone pinged on his desk. Kuroo reached backwards to grab it. 

A text from Bo. His friend was now talking to Akaashi and everything was fine and Kuroo was the bestest bro ever. He shook his head and tossed his phone back onto his desk. 

It buzzed again. 

Kuroo sighed and set the controller back in the drawer before reaching back for his phone.

Kenma this time.

He grinned. The setter wanted to come over and play something. Kuroo quickly typed an affirmative reply, then went back to digging out the old game system. They might as well both have fun with it. 

Minutes later, just as Kuroo was hooking up the last plug, there was a soft knock on the door and then Kenma’s head poking inside. 

“You set up that old thing?”

“I was thinking about when we got the games, earlier, and I thought it might be fun to play again.” Kuroo grinned and held out the controller to his friend.

Kenma blinked at him. “But the graphics are so bad now.” Aw, his look of pure confusion as to why he would want to play a game with bad graphics was just too adorable. 

“They weren’t then! Come on! It’ll be fun. You can be the sorcerer and I’ll handle all the close-range stuff for you.”

Kenma frowned but took the controller and sat on the edge of the bed. “I wanted to play my PSP.”

“But we can’t play that together, Kenma cat.”

All he received in response was a sigh. 

Kuroo grinned and hit the power button.

Dang. The graphics really did feel old now. “Remember when we used to play this every day after dinner?”

A slow blink, “Yeah, we did it so much I’ve seen it in memories a couple of times.”

“Me too!” Kuroo pressed start, “Though I was sitting on the bed, then, so some things do change.”

Kuroo picked the warrior character, then turned to Kenma, wondering why he hadn’t already selected the sorcerer.

Kenma was staring at him. “I’ve always sat on the bed, Kuro.”

Kuroo blinked. “Well, sure, you do now, but I remember when you didn’t sometimes.”

“You remember sitting on the bed?” Kenma’s head cocked to the side, then suddenly his eyes narrowed. He set the controller down. 

Kuroo frowned. Kenma rarely set down his games, much less willingly. Even ones with bad graphics. Kuroo thought back over what he’d said. Nope. Didn’t see anything to warrant this reaction. Cautiously, he repeated it. “Yeah… I remember sitting on the bed while we played.”

“You’ve never done that, Kuro.” Kenma’s eyes were unnervingly focused. Kuroo really wasn’t sure what was going on. “You always sit on the floor and let me have the bed.”

Why the hell was Kenma making such a big deal out of this? “What does it matter where we used to sit? Let’s just play the game.”

He could still feel Kenma’s eyes on the back of his head. When his friend next spoke, his voice was carefully nonchalant. “Have you had a soulmate memory recently?”

Kuroo went rigid. He’d never—they’d never… Why now of all times? “No. You’ve… you’ve never asked about that before.” All this time… he thought Kenma had known. Known that Kuroo didn’t have one, and that was why he never brought it up. Shit. He did not want to deal with this today. Not after the mess with Bo. But Kenma deserved honesty. “I don’t have one. I thought you knew.”

“You…” Kenma’s voice was confused. It was understandable. Everyone had a soulmate. Everyone but Kuroo. Darn it, no. He had been doing better about this. He wasn’t going to break down. It was just… first Bo, today, and now Kenma. Kenma! After all this time! Kuroo didn’t dare turn his head to look at his friend. He didn’t want to see the pity.

“Baka.”

Kuroo’s head whipped around to stare at him. Kenma was giving him a _very_ disappointed look. “You’re a real idiot, you know that?”

“What the heck?!” That was not the reaction he was supposed to get! Sure, he didn’t want pity, but some sort of understanding would be nice! Not just calling him an idiot!

“I have always sat on the bed, Kuro.”

And this again?! “Why are you changing the topic?! And yeah, now you do, but I remember sitting on the bed sometimes when we were younger!”

“Baaakaaa.” Kenma sighed. “I’m not changing the topic. It’s the same one. You remember that because you’re seeing _my_ memories of when we were playing games.”

….

What?

Because…. Because they were Kenma’s?! His memories... his mind flashed back to the one he’d had this morning. The one where he felt like the shelf had been higher than he thought but dismissed it as his kid depth-perception being different. Had it been taller than he’d originally thought because the memory had been Kenma’s? Kenma’s, and not his? 

No. 

No, he would have realized it by now if that was the case. Kenma was with him a lot, sure, but they weren’t always together.

“Kenma, you can’t be serious. Please don’t joke about this.” His heart couldn’t take that. 

Kenma groaned. “Why are you so dumb. Just, why. I thought you knew, but just didn’t want to talk about it for whatever reason. Everyone makes a big deal out of soulmates, but we didn’t, and I was ok with that. It was nice. But now you’re telling me that you didn’t even realize it.” His eyes were closed with frustration. Kenma… didn’t look like he was trying to joke. 

Kuroo stared at his friend. Kenma was serious. 

Another sigh. “Kuro, don’t you remember things we’ve done randomly? Like how everyone else’s soulmate memories are random?”

“I get nostalgic sometimes, that’s all.”

Kenma’s eye twitched. “And do you ever see me in those memories? Or see yourself?”

“People remember things differently… and I’ve only ever seen myself a couple times… I thought it was weird, but…” Kuroo shrugged. “Memories do weird things.”

“My soulmate is an idiot.”

Kuroo’s heart clenched. He never… he never thought he’d hear the words ‘my soulmate’ directed at him. “Kenma… this isn’t a joke? You see my memories?”

“Yes.” Kenma glared at him. 

Kuroo was still in shock. 

Kenma thought Kuroo was his soulmate. 

Kuroo’s mind raced, trying to come up with a single memory that would contradict what Kenma was saying, but he couldn’t. Things just kept coming to mind that he’d discarded at the time, but now made _so much sense._ Like the constant feeling as if he was too short in his memories. Like why he remembered enjoying eating apple pie one time when he always gave Kenma his slice whenever it was offered to him. Or when he remembered watching a scary movie that he could’ve sworn he’d never seen, but he knew Kenma had. 

“When we first touched, we would’ve been too young to know what was going on. We probably thought the warmth or whatever was weird but forgot about it after that.” Kenma sighed, “Why do you think two antisocial kids like us were able to become friends so quickly, Kuro? We must have felt something to open up to each other like that.”

“I…” Kuroo swallowed, his eyes fixed on his best friend’s face. “You’re…” He wanted to pinch himself this had to be a dream. He’d lived in this soulmate-less reality for so long….

“We’re soulmates, Kuro.” 

He wasn’t crying. 

He wasn’t.

“Gomen.” Kenma’s voice was softer, now. Sad. Kenma should never sound sad. “I should’ve brought it up sooner. I know you’re dense sometimes, but I didn’t realize you were going through… through all this, I guess.” Kenma bit his lip, Kuroo’s eyes did _not_ focus on his best friend’s mouth. His soulmate’s mouth? He let out a strangled groan. This was too confusing.

Kenma raised an eyebrow, but kept going, “When I heard people mention that you didn’t have one, I figured you just didn’t want people to know about us. Which I was ok with.” He shrugged, “I’m glad you’re my soulmate, but you attract a lot of attention, you know.” 

Kenma had thought Kuroo didn’t want to acknowledge him?! “No! No, Kenma, if I’d known, I would’ve… I would’ve told everyone! Or talked to you about it, at least! I would never just… lie like that.” His eyes widened. Kenma had said he was ok with that. Shit. “Unless you don’t want people to know?” Wait. Kenma had said he was ok with that. Past tense. “Or do you not feel that way now? Shit Kenma, I’ve been hurting you all this time and I didn’t even fucking know.” 

Kuroo broke off as Kenma moved suddenly toward him, placing both hands on his shoulders. “Kuroo, shut up. I brought it up today because I’d been thinking about asking you to tell people, but I really have been fine.” He wrinkled his nose, “Too many girls are flirting with you now that we’re older and they think you’re unattached. It’s annoying.”

Kuroo blinked. Kenma was… jealous? He brought his hands up to rest on Kenma’s waist, a slow smirk spreading. “We can tell whoever you want, Kenma-cat.”

Tell people. About his soulmate. About Kenma being his soulmate. That was going to take some getting used to. But he would do anything for Kenma. He'd always been willing to do anything for Kenma.

Kenma’s eyes were wide. “Kuro…” Kuroo’s mouth went dry. Kenma should not be allowed to sound like that, all breathy and, and… desperate? Was that what that noise meant?

Wait. Was that a blush? He eyed the tint of red, watching it spread across Kenma’s cheek as he fidgeted between Kuroo’s hands.

Oh, it so was. He pulled Kenma close enough that their chests were almost touching. 

The red deepened. 

Kuroo’s smirk widened. There was no way Kenma’s feelings were just platonic. And as for his own… well, now he didn’t have to wonder if Kenma was taken by some future soulmate.

And maybe he could actually entertain some of those thoughts about post-shower Kenma without feeling guilty.

But first… he needed to know. Needed to make sure. One of his hands reached up, slowly tracing the curve of Kenma’s cheek before resting in the crook of his neck, fingers tangling in his soft hair. Kenma’s breath hitched. His pupils dilated. 

Those were certainly good signs. “Can I kiss you, Kenma?”

Kenma let out a soft laugh, “Kuro, I honestly thought you’d never ask.”

Well. That wouldn’t do. Kuroo bent down, tilting his head slightly as their lips met. It was soft, tender, sweet. 

Despite their years of fumbling, his own years of ignorance, it was somehow perfect. 

He leaned back, not wanting to push it too far, still wondering if this was really a crazy dream.

Yet, at the same time…. He wasn’t really that surprised.

Kenma was looking up at him, his expression content. The younger boy, his soulmate, set his head against Kuroo’s chest. Kuroo wrapped his arms around him.

No, he couldn’t be completely surprised.

After all, he’d always loved Kenma.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope y'all enjoyed the new installment of my soulmate au! As always, comments and kudos are much appreciated!! Hearing back from all y'all really makes my day.


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